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Contra (video game)
Contra, distributed as Gryzor in Europe and Oceania, is a 1987 run-and-gun action game developed and published by Konami originally released as a coin-operated arcade game on February 20th, 1987. A home version was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, along with ports for various computer formats, including the MSX2. The home versions were localized in the PAL region as Gryzor on the various computer formats, and as Probotector on the NES, released later. Several Contra sequels were produced following the original game. Plot In 2633, two armed Elite Marine Commandos "Contra" named Bill and Lance are sent on a mission to neutralize a terrorist organization called Red Falcon that is secretly planning to take over the entire world and it is up to this two man army to put an end to this madness once and for all. Gameplay Contra is a run-and-gun platformer, notorious for its difficulty. It gives the player a gun which can shoot infinitely, and can be upgraded to have new abilities and shoot different projectiles. The weapons can be found in pill-box sensors, or in weapon capsules. If they are destroyed, the power-up falls out and can be collected to upgrade the player's weapon. This weapon can be lost when the player comes into contact with a deadly enemy or obstacle, losing a life instantly. The character can shoot in eight directions, and can crouch. The player starts with three lives, which are represented by medals. The player can earn extra lives by destroying enough enemies and raising his or her current score. you can steal some lives to join the game. The game also has several "3D" sections, in the second stage (Base 1) and fifth stage (Base 2). There are electric barriers that can kill the player if he or she comes into contact with them. To proceed, you will have to destroy the orb in middle of the room. There is a boss on every stage. In order to proceed to the next stage, the player needs to defeat this boss. There is a total of 8 stages. Antagonists Red Falcon The main antagonist is the invading alien army known as Red Falcon. Their members serve as the in-game enemies and come in many different varieties; these include brainwashed human soldiers, machines, and alien creatures. Aliens The first alien appears as the boss of the third stage, the Waterfall. After this boss fight, other kinds of aliens are seen throughout the rest of the game. These range from small, deformed creatures to lethal mandibles mounted on walls and ceilings (as seen in the final stage, the Aliens' Lair). Stages Stage 1 - Jungle *Boss - Gunner Wall Stage 2 - Base *Boss - Garmakilma Stage 3 - Waterfall *Boss - Gromaides Stage 4 - Base 2 *Boss - Godomuga Stage 5 - Snow Field *Miniboss - Dogra *Boss - Guldaf Stage 6 - Energy Zone *Boss - Gordea Stage 7 - Hangar *Boss - Wall Stage 8 - Alien's Lair *Boss - Gomeramos King Soundtrack *Stage 1 - Battle in the Dense Forest *Stages 2 and 4 - Labyrinth Fortress *Stage 3 - Bloody Waterfall *Stage 5 - Fortress in the Ice *Stage 6 - Fortress in the Fire *Stage 7 - Fortress in the Fire (arcade), Battle in the Dense Forest (NES/Famicom) *Stage 8 - Horrible Heartbeat *Boss clear - Triumphant Return *Final Boss clear - Alien Dead Jingle *Ending - Sandinista *Game Over - The End Reception Much of the game's popularity came from its two-player simultaneous Co-op, which was an uncommon feature in video games at the time of Contra's release. Another aspect of the game's huge success is its motif and inspiration: Contra is inspired by combination of three huge popular action movies at the time - Commando + Rambo + Aliens. In fact, much of Red Falcon's aliens use Alien movie such as facehuggers and Ovomorphs. Also face motifs for Lance Bean and Bill Rizer were based on Sylvester Stallone (for Lance) and Arnold Schwartznegger (for Bill), the two box-office guarantee star powers at the time. While successful in the arcades, the game became, and remained, wildly popular and remembered when it was ported to Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, right after its arcade release a year prior. It has been voted No.1 by many websites, notably IGN's as being the "Toughest Game to Beat"http://games.ign.com/articles/774/774911p2.html. Nintendo Power ranked it the seventh best Nintendo Entertainment System video game, calling it one of the best multiplayer NES Games.(Magazine) Nintendo Power - The 20th Anniversary Issue!. Nintendo Power. 231. San Francisco, California: Future US. August 2008. p. 71.. ScrewAttack named it the fifth best NES of all time in the 1980s.http://www.screwattack.com/shows/originals/screwattack-top-10s/top-ten-nes-games Gallery Contra (U) 200305050739361.gif|Title screen Contra (U) 200305050651545.gif|The main character starts with three lives. Contra (U) 200305050713121.gif|Two player mode. Trivia *The Japanese release include additional backgrounds, a map showing the player location, the characters communicate via radio and different animated title screen and ending. All this was possible thanks to the VRC-2 chip made by Konami for their games. However, in the North America this doesn't appeared due to the fact that Nintendo made standard games for its commercialization in America and Europe, the chip was not included in this game. *The American version of this game was set in contemporary times, as opposed to the futuristic setting of the Japanese version. Also, Bill and Lance's names were changed to Mad Dog and Scorpion in the American release. *If the player keep pressing the buttons Start and Select before and during the credits, you will see a hidden message that says "Red Falcon". *In the European versions the main characters (and some enemies) are replaced with robots due to a German law of showing violence to minors. *In the European versions the third boss has different arm colors. *The game has a famous cheat code called the Konami Code. The player can get 30 lives after pressing the following button combination on the title screen: Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Start (this code works in every version). *The title screen is different in every version. *The MSX2 port features 19 levels instead of 8. Instead of the story ending after destroying the Alien Heart, the game continues into many underground corridor levels and a few bases inbetween them. The final level is a deep red in color alien lair, and the final boss is some sort of portal between dimensions. All of this was, unfortunately, done at the cost of the game being a screen-to-screen scroller. Any of the new levels do not have unique music. *Even in the original arcade version, the player is only allowed to continue up to three times. If players fail to complete the game upon fourth chance, the game is entirely over and players must restart the whole game. Related products *Contra Game Book — Gamebook. *Konami Music Masterpiece Collection *Legend of Game Music ～Premium Box～ *''GameCenter CX'' — Seen on Season 5, Episode 32. References Category:Arcade games Category:NES games Category:Contra